Greetings, I'm new to the forum. Purchased an '06 K1200S w/ 8500 mi. this summer. Ordinarily, I ride all year long (I live west of Boston, MA). My last two bikes were '97 VFRs, and I had problems w/ salt corrosion in hidden areas. The weather here is in the mid-30s - mid-40s, which is good riding weather for me. The roads are dry, but have a white dusting (I ride my road and mt. bike w/o any obvious damage)(a beater winter bike is prohibitive insurance-wise). I'm really itching bad to ride! But know I shouldn't, so am almost looking forward to being admonished by the forum...Thanks, Miles
Riding in Winter
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Areas on the K1200S that corrode are the head, cam cover, starter and throttle body area. These areas are also difficult to clean and remove the salt contamination. In my area (upstate NY) they seam to have given up on plowing and instead try to remove the snow with chemicals. Today on the highway it was like a dust storm of salt so bad you could hardly see vehicles in the other lane. All that air borne salt dust gets in every nook and cranny of your bike car or truck causing rust and corrosion.
In the past few years I have been using a product called Salt Away on my vehicles at the end of our winter to neutralize salt and its effects. They use it in the Marine industry to flush salt from engine blocks and hulls of boats that are used in the oceans. Its also safe on painted surfaces. Does it work you ask??? I will let you know when my brand new truck hits 8 years old as that is about the time it starts getting rust blisters.
About my bikes... (K1600 and K1200S)... they are in hibernation inside my heated shop until spring.
Cheers and ride safe, Dan
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In the past few years I have been using a product called Salt Away on my vehicles at the end of our winter to neutralize salt and its effects. They use it in the Marine industry to flush salt from engine blocks and hulls of boats that are used in the oceans. Its also safe on painted surfaces. Does it work you ask??? I will let you know when my brand new truck hits 8 years old as that is about the time it starts getting rust blisters.
About my bikes... (K1600 and K1200S)... they are in hibernation inside my heated shop until spring.
Cheers and ride safe, Dan
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38 Posts
Well, can't say I identify with you much as here in Arizona I can only ride in the summer if I escape the desert early and head into the higher elevations. Even then I once came home and spent an hour driving across the desert at 119F. (48c). Here we ride the mountains in the summer and the desert in the winter, though we do suffer at 50F. (Hey! YOU ride in Phoenix for 40 years and then you can laugh at me getting cold when the temp drops below 75f.)
That said, I spent many a winter in Lafayette Indiana, and I saw plenty of snow and salt on the roads. The one big recommendation I have is perhaps impossible in the cold - wash your bike after a ride. Get that salt off! I'm thinking that if it is too cold, the water would just freeze, but that's pretty cold. (I once took my R90s out for a ride at -35F/-37c just to see. Don't do that.)
That said, I spent many a winter in Lafayette Indiana, and I saw plenty of snow and salt on the roads. The one big recommendation I have is perhaps impossible in the cold - wash your bike after a ride. Get that salt off! I'm thinking that if it is too cold, the water would just freeze, but that's pretty cold. (I once took my R90s out for a ride at -35F/-37c just to see. Don't do that.)
There is an area of potential severe corrosion on our K bikes. The fork tubes are hollow and open at the top. On the bottom they drain directly onto the pinch bolt for the axle. If these are passing on dirt and road debris to your pinch bolt they could be expensive to fix. They need to be cleaned at some interval and could give you torque down problems if not. After about 50K I had to clean mine out for a smooth finish and I got all sorts of crud out from these two places.
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20 Posts
If I remember correctly there is a section in the ouners manual on this. It does talk about "oiling the bike for winter use" Maybe some good info there.
spray the bike with a ACF50 I did this for the first 6 years of ownership of my k1300gt EE. Haven’t done it for the past two years and now have a lot of hidden corrosion. If you ride I n winter with road gritted, you need to wash the bike down frequently and re apply ACF 50; all over. It keeps the corrosion away. Last 2 years I have left the bike in the open and not done more than 2k. The bike now has-some corrosion on exposed parts. ACF 50 is great to prevent it happening.
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